There were two cover stories in the New York Times today highlighting the persistent oppression and violence millions of women and girls face on a daily basis throughout the world. What kinds of monsters deliberately and ceremoniously remove the clitoris of a child so that (as they assert) she remain chaste? This practice has been condoned in Egypt for centuries under the banner of Islam. How is it that we live in a world where girls are still considered subhuman, slaves, tantamount to beasts of burden? The spirit of the child is removed when her body is cut to make her sole purpose in life for the use and service of a man. Fortunately there is a movement that is challenging genital mutilation in Egypt, labeling it as haram and in violation of Islamic faith.
The other cover story is shocking in that domestic violence, in this particular instance found in the African American community, is treated as an anomaly and not the epidemic that it is. The self-proclaimed prophetess the Reverend Juanita Bynum was known for preaching about the woman’s role primarily as serving and uplifting the man in marriage until her own experience with domestic violence made her rethink her message. Once again, women were and are instructed to endure the violence, the dehumanizing and draining existence of subjugation and the humiliation of pretending to be without thought and feeling and independent spirit. One’s spirits dies if it is not nourished in return and given life by being free, the freedom of self-determination.
Oh, and then there was the story of the polygamist who is being prosecuted for raping his 14 year old wife, a young woman who was forced into the marriage. In all three instances what is claimed to be religious piety serves to deny the humanity and dignity of the girl or woman by making men their caretakers, masters, creators and destroyers. Religion is used to justify these oppressive codes yet, as history repeatedly demonstrates, the Bible and the Koran can liberate the very same people it condemns and enslaves. When will the women of the world be liberated to breathe the air on their own terms and walk out of the shadow of despots and cowards? We tell their stories and remind them of their sacredness, their power.
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3 comments:
So goes the struggle between religion/culture/tradition and human rights. While I agree that physical mutilation of a minor seems wrong to me, what about those in the US who pierce their infant daughters' ears? What about parents who have their children's genitals "corrected" because they do not conform to what the parents (or doctors) expect?
Religion, culture, and tradition are very strong influences on people, and this is often good. It is what encourages parents to take care of their children, and discourages people from killing each other for sport. Yet every religion, every culture, every tradition has some aspect that could be seen as harmful from a different perspective. Even infant baptism can be seen that way.
Until we recognize a child's deferred right to be allowed to choose, adults will make permanent choices for children that cannot be undone as adults.
Thanks for your comment. I understand your view but baptism, at least the form of baptism that I am familiar with, does not potentially turn into a botched medical procedure that can kill a child. Mutilation that purely serves to establish male dominance over women cannot be compared to an act of being washed in water. If only the blades used to cut the children were as gentle as water. Also, when parents arrange for their children to have surgery to "correct" phyisical attributes it is mutilation in some form. Yes, we all do things that another culture finds odd or cruel and inhumane but there is a line crossed when domination and oppression are the sole reason for the act or tradition. If this wasn't the case then slavery or child labor, for instance, could just be ignored as a particular culture's tradition. This can't be so.
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